Famous Generals of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea No. 16: "Crazy General" - Wang Jinshan (Lieutenant General)
He is the prototype of the protagonist Li Yunlong in the classic anti-war TV series "Bright Sword", and has always been known for his bravery in battle, and he is nicknamed "Wang Crazy". From the beginning of the Red Army period to the end of the later War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Wang Jinshan made great military achievements and was praised by Marshal Liu Bocheng as "a rare fierce general with wisdom and courage"...
He is the founding lieutenant general - Wang Jinshan!
People in the world say that General Wang Jinshan is brave in battle, and he will not be killed when he fights, just like a "madman"! So, is that really the case?
This issue will take you to understand the classic deeds of the older generation of revolutionaries General Wang Jinshan, if you are also interested in history, then you may wish to calm down and read it, maybe you will gain something!
General Wang Jinshan
Wang Jinshan, born on October 29, 1915 in Xujiawan, Chenghe Village, Gaoqiao Town, Hong'an County, Hubei Province, to a poor peasant family, had no mother at an early age, herded cattle for others at the age of 8, worked as a long-term worker for the landlord's family at the age of 13, and was bullied by the landlord's family since childhood.
The young Wang Jinshan knew very well that if this continued, there would never be a day of beginning, and if the poor wanted to really stand up, they would have to join the revolution.
On April 12, 1930, the Red Army in the Eyu-Anhui Border Region was reorganized into the Red First Army. In June of the same year, at the age of 15, Wang Jinshan resolutely joined this Red Army brigade with class indignation and officially became a soldier of the Fifth Company of the Third Regiment of the First Division of the Red Army.
Under the leadership of military commander Xu Jishen and deputy commander Xu Xiangqian, Wang Jinshan officially began his revolutionary career of conquering the south and the north for the liberation of the people.
In August 1932, the Battle of Huang'an Qiliping was officially launched!
This was a counterattack war fought by our Red Fourth Front against the Kuomintang army during the "Agrarian Revolutionary War", and it was also a rare vicious battle in the history of the Red Fourth Front at that time.
At that time, in the area of Qiliping, the Kuomintang army's Chen Inheritance Department launched a fierce attack on our army's positions under the cover of aircraft artillery with nearly 20 regiments. At this time, Xu Xiangqian only had 12 regiments in his hands.
Despite the huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us, the officers and men of our army still fought bravely and without any fear, and taking advantage of the setback of the enemy's offensive, Xu Shuai immediately commanded the army to carry out a fierce counterattack. Subsequently, the officers and men of our army braved the enemy's gunfire and bullets to wade down the river of water in vain and fight with the enemy.
Suddenly, the entire battlefield was deafening and bloody, causing the enemy's aircraft and artillery to be unable to unfold.
At that time, Wang Jinshan, who was then the deputy regimental commander, also led his troops to engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the enemy! During the battle, he pounced on a large enemy.
Wang Jinshan saw that this person looked tall and tall, and a frontal confrontation would certainly not take advantage, so he rushed over and hugged the man and rolled him down the cliff together. The enemy soldiers were killed on the spot, and Wang Jinshan was also poked with a hole in the stone tip, but fortunately there was no danger to his life.
After this battle, his comrades-in-arms called him "The Madman of the King".
Wang Jinshan (Lieutenant General)
In fact, Wang Jinshan's "madness" did not exist at the beginning, and it still had a certain relationship with Marshal Xu Qianqian.
Because we know that Xu Shuai has always been known for "leading troops with a way and managing the army with a good manner," his military training can be divided into five points: one is to train courage, the second is to practice technology, the third is to practice tactics, the fourth is to train the march, and the fifth is to train the style.
It was precisely under The strict requirements and training of Xu Shuai that the troops of the Red Fourth Front army formed a fighting style of "fierce, hard, fast, fierce, and lively." This was well reflected in many subsequent battles.
And Wang Jinshan is a brave warrior who was brought out by such an environment, so it is understandable that there is such a performance in the battle.
After the Battle of Qiliping, Wang Jinshan was promoted to regimental commander. As for the title of "Wang Madman" given to him by his comrades-in-arms, Xu Shuai once explained: "That is not called madness, that is called revolutionary heroism." ”
In fact, the reason why people call Wang Jinshan a "madman" is not just that he fights and does not want to die, but because he "dares to be afraid to do."
In October 1943, Wang Jinshan, then commander of the Second Sub-district of the Taiyue Military Region, was ordered to lead the 16th Regiment back to northern Shaanxi to defend Yan'an. However, on the 21st, when the team passed through the village of Han Luo, an enemy-occupied area that was only a few dozen kilometers away from Linfen City, it suddenly discovered the enemy situation.
At that time, Wang Jinshan could have led his troops around to avoid an exchange of fire with the enemy, but when he looked around and saw that the terrain around him was favorable for ambushing, he immediately decided to fight a battle and then leave. However, the political commissar resolutely disagreed, saying that at this time the enemy situation was unclear, and there was still a major task of defending Yan'an, and in case something was lost, no one could bear this responsibility.
But Wang Jinshan insisted on fighting!
On the evening of the 22nd, Wang Jinshan led his troops into an ambush position! At about 8 a.m. the next morning, the sound of a car engine came from the direction of Linfen, and Wang Jinshan quickly took out a telescope to observe. Immediately after, 3 cars and 13 troop carriers appeared in Wang Jinshan's field of vision.
It is estimated that the total number of this Japanese army is about 200 people, which seems to be the most appropriate ratio of "dumpling skin" and "dumpling filling" for more than 120 soldiers of the Sixteen regiments who are preparing to "wrap dumplings"!
At the invitation of Okamura Ninji, this Japanese unit went to Taiyue District to observe the new method of "iron sweeping," and was led by Major General Hattori Naoto, commander of Okamura's trusted brigade, a group of backbone officers, including a brigade commander, 6 Ōsa squadron leaders, and 180 Nakasa and Shōsa brigade leaders and squadron leaders.
If it can be won smoothly, then it will be a rich "dumpling feast", on the contrary, if it cannot be taken, Wang Jinshan will not only lose soldiers and soldiers, but also be punished by his superiors.
But at this moment, Wang Jinshan was full of confidence!
After the enemy army entered the ambush circle set by our army, Under the order of Wang Jinshan, the six companies that were on the task of truncation took the lead in firing, and then the mines buried in advance on the Japanese army's marching road began to sound one after another, and the Japanese cars were overturned on the side of the road, and the Japanese soldiers were also blown up on their backs.
Due to the suddenness of the incident, the Japanese army was completely unprepared, and after being attacked, it could only respond to the battle in a hurry, and there was a great deal of chaos, and our army was condescending and launched a fierce blow to the Japanese army.
Subsequently, Wang Jinshan saw that the Japanese army was panicked and could not organize an effective counterattack, so he simply ordered the trumpeters to blow the charge horn and launch a charge against the enemy. This point is well reflected in "Bright Sword", Li Yunlong fights, likes to blow the charge trumpet, and "the whole regiment puts on the bayonet" at every turn, and the heroic personality can be seen!
Finally, after nearly three hours of bloody fighting, all of the nearly 200 Japanese troops were annihilated by our army, and most of them were the backbone officers of the Japanese army. Because of this, at that time, there was also a joke in the Eighth Route Army that "Wang Crazy laughed, Okamura Ningji jumped".
This battle of the Sixteenth Regiment in Hanluo Village effectively contained the enemy and cooperated with the "anti-sweeping" operation in the hinterland, which was a decisive battle to smash the Japanese army's "iron sweep" of the Taiyue base area.
Afterwards, Wang Jinshan, who was full of joy, led his army all the way to Yan'an, and was later received by Chairman Mao, who held his hand tightly and said:
"I have long heard that there is a 'king madman' in the Red Fourth Front, and now he has become Wuxia Amun, which is remarkable!"
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Wang Jinshan successively served as deputy regimental commander of the 772nd Regiment of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army, commander of the 769th Regiment, deputy political commissar of the 385th Brigade, and brigade commander of the 386th Brigade, and participated in many famous battles such as the Battle of Shentouling and the Battle of Xiangtangpu, and made outstanding meritorious achievements.
During the Liberation War, Wang Jinshan successively served as the deputy commander of the Taiyue Column, the commander of the 6th Column of the Jinji-Hebei Luyu Field Army, and led his troops to participate in the Shangdang Campaign, the Handan Campaign, the Dingtao Campaign, and the Huaihai Campaign.
In particular, in the Battle of Dingtao in September 1946, Wang Jinshan led the Sixth Column to annihilate the entire Third Division of Chiang Kai-shek's family in one fell swoop, which played an important role in reversing the situation on the entire southern front of the People's Liberation Army at that time.
It is worth mentioning that in this battle, in the face of the pressure of the Kuomintang army, in order to show his determination to resist the war, Wang Jinshan also made a passionate and heroic military order to Liu Deng:
"We 6 vertical resolutely fight! Fight the remaining brigade and I will be the brigade commander! I'll be the leader of one regiment left! I'll be the company commander of one company left! With all the light, we are worthy of the party and the fathers and fellow countrymen of the Taihang Mountains who nurtured us! ”
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War broke out! In March of the following year, Wang Jinshan was appointed deputy commander of the Third Corps of the Volunteer Army, and together with the commander and political commissar General Chen Geng, he led the army to the Korean battlefield, and successively participated in the Fifth Campaign and the Battle of Shangganling.
Especially in the "Battle of Shangganling", Wang Jinshan's "madness" was even more vividly expressed!
Battle of Shangganling
At about 3:00 a.m. on October 14, 1952, General VanVleet, then commander of the Eighth Army of the United Nations Army, launched the so-called "Golden Offensive" by General VanVleet of the United States Army.
The US Seventh Division and the Second Division of the South Korean Army concentrated more than 40 aircraft, more than 320 large-caliber heavy artillery, and 127 tanks and fighting vehicles, and launched a fierce attack on the Shangganling position held by the Fifteenth Army of our volunteer army!
At that time, the "United Nations Army" had to pour hundreds of thousands of shells and hundreds of tons of bombs on the Shangganling Heights every day, and the Fifteenth Army led by General Qin Jiwei suffered heavy casualties while inflicting a large number of casualties on the enemy.
By the seventh day of the battle, the Forty-fifth Division of the Fifteenth Army had almost been exhausted. So many years later, General Cui Jiangong, then commander of the Forty-fifth Division, shook his head in pain when he recalled the tragic situation of that year:
Days of bitter fighting have been exchanged for a large number of sacrifices, but even so, Qin Jiwei still fought to the death. On 18 October, the enemy began to attack again, and a day after the death, the forward troops of the Forty-fifth Division had to retreat to the tunnels due to heavy casualties. This was the first time that all the surface positions of Shangganling had been lost.
General Qin Jiwei
That night, Cui Jiangong urgently held an operational meeting, and repeated the military orders that Wang Jinshan had given to Liu Deng and the two chiefs, and repeated to the soldiers: "Fight the remaining company, I will be the company commander..."
At 17:00 on October 19, after a salvo of the "Katyusha" rocket artillery battalion of our army, 103 mountain and howitzers immediately carried out blocking fire. Cui Jiangong then began to command his troops to launch a counterattack against the two lost positions.
In the end, after a day and night of fierce fighting, the lost position was finally recaptured.
However, it was not long before the enemy was extremely annoyed by the loss of the position, so he began to invest a large number of troops, and with strong ground and air fire, launched a fierce attack on our position. After seven days and nights of continuous hard fighting, even the reserves went up, but in the end they had to retreat back to the tunnel because of the heavy casualties. Two positions, gained and lost!
At this time, Wang Jinshan was impatient, pacing back and forth in his headquarters, thinking hard about good strategies. Wang Jinshan does not drink alcohol, does not smoke, and when he feels particularly stressed, he likes to pace back and forth.
Finally, after Wang Jinshan's painstaking contemplation, a series of countermeasures appeared in his mind.
Wang Jinshan summoned Qin Jiwei and said to him, "If you can't do it, I'll let the Twelfth Army go up." When Qin Jiwei heard this, he quickly stood up and yelled at Wang Jinshan, "I will not go down, I will not go down, I will die in Shangganling." ”
In fact, Wang Jinshan just said it casually, and did not really want Qin Jiwei to withdraw from the Shangganling position! Because no one knows better than Wang Jinshan, if you want to fight this battle well, you must be this "Qin Dadao" who dares to fight!
Subsequently, Wang Jinshan ordered the two divisions and four regiments of Li Desheng's Twelfth Army, which were changing defenses to rest in the rear, to return to the front line urgently, throw themselves into battle, and give full authority to Qin Jiwei's command, in addition, another "Katyusha" artillery regiment was added to support the battle!
After hearing this, Qin Jiwei was very happy, and immediately expressed his position to Wang Jinshan:
"As long as the leaders of the corps trust me, I will grit my teeth and fight, and I will not be able to save Shangganling, and I will come to see you!"
At about 10:00 p.m. on October 30, the 15th Army concentrated more than 100 artillery pieces and began to prepare artillery fire on the 597.9 heights.
Tonight, they will be in a showdown with the Yankees!
However, this battle did not end so easily, the enemy and us fought in Shangganling for seven days and seven nights, and in the end of the battle, only the will remained.
At that time, the "United Nations Army" had invested a total of seventeen battalions of troops, but the casualties had reached more than 7,000. And Qin Jiwei was also very clear that although he had invested fewer troops than the enemy, the proportion of casualties was greater.
Therefore, as early as the 21st, Qin Jiwei, after repeated deliberations, suggested to General Deng Hua, deputy commander of the Volunteer Army: First temporarily stop the counterattack, turn the forward troops into the tunnels, use small detachment activities and the enemy to maneuver around, contain the enemy, and at the same time adjust the operational deployment, replenish the troops, and study tactics to plan a decisive counterattack.
Zhiji approved Qin Jiwei's idea, and Wang Jinshan also expressed support for it.
However, when the forward troops moved to the tunnel operations, the soldiers were in a difficult position. Because the tunnels are getting shorter and shorter, the places where people can accommodate people are getting smaller and smaller, so the remains of the martyrs can only be temporarily parked in the tunnels.
In addition, because the enemy army blockade is too tight, the lack of food and water in the tunnel, it is difficult to sustain, many soldiers can only lick and suck the water droplets on the wall of the pit, and even use human urine to quench their thirst. Although the headquarters sent many transporters out with food and fresh water at that time, most of them lay on the blockade line.
It was not until the night of the ninth day, that is, the 28th, that Song Dexing, the instructor of the transport company, and two fire line transporters successfully crossed the enemy's blockade line and sent three bags of turnips and some condolences into the first tunnel. But the radish was too heartburned, so the tunnel troops suggested sending apples.
Subsequently, the Logistics Department of the Fifteenth Army sent personnel to the Pyongyang area to urgently purchase more than 30,000 apples. At that time, in order to be able to purchase more apples, Qin Jiwei and other military chiefs also paid out their own small amount of "private money".
However, the enemy's blockade was too tight, and a large number of apples could not be sent out. At that time, the Party Committee of the Forty-fifth Division immediately issued an appeal: "Whoever sends a basket of apples, remember the second-class merit." ”
However, there is still no basket of apples that can break through the blockade line. In the end, only one apple entered Tunnel One.
In the movie "Shangganling", such a touching scene was described: the apple that only entered the tunnel, although small, was rotated several times in the hands of the warriors before eating it.
This scene well embodies the great tenacity and solidarity spirit of a nation! So I would like to ask, can such a force be defeated with a few cannons?
I can only say four words about this – wishful thinking.
The Battle of Shangganling began on October 14, 1952, and lasted until November 25, a total of 43 days. During this period, the enemy and us fought fiercely on two high grounds with an area of only 3.7 square kilometers, and the number of troops and weapons and equipment invested was increasing.
According to records, at that time, the "United Nations Army" invested a total of more than 60,000 troops, and our army invested more than 43,000 people. In the end, the Un Army lost more than 270 aircraft, more than 60 large-caliber artillery pieces, and 14 tanks.
In this campaign, our volunteer troops repeatedly fought with the enemy for positions 29 times by relying on tunnels, repelled 25 chargeheads of the enemy battalion above the battalion level, and repelled as many as 653 charges below the battalion.
Shangganling Hero Position
However, although the battle was won, Wang Jinshan's face did not show the joy of the great victory in the slightest. Because in his eyes, too much smoke and life had been precipitated, and this "fiasco victory" that had been exchanged for the sacrifice of tens of thousands of soldiers would not make this general who had experienced hundreds of battles happy under any circumstances.
So many years later, when the movie "Shangganling" was released, General Wang Jinshan was less than halfway through watching it, and he was already in tears and had to leave the scene halfway.
After the battle of Shangganling, the US army was seriously injured, and never launched a battalion-sized attack on our volunteer army again, and its Korean war situation has since stabilized near the "38th Line."
This war not only laid the foundation for the division of the north-south territory of the Korean Peninsula, but also exchanged for decades of peace in East Asia.
So many people have said: "The Americans really know Chinese, starting from Shangganling." ”
In the autumn of 1953, General Wang Jinshan returned from the Korean battlefield and successively served as deputy commander and acting commander of the Shandong Military Region, deputy commander of the Beijing Military Region, vice minister of public security, and deputy chief of staff of the Nanjing Military Region.
In September 1955, Wang Jinshan was awarded the rank of lieutenant general and was awarded the Order of August 1st Class, the Order of Independence and Freedom first class, and the Liberation Medal first class.
On May 10, 1978, General Wang Jinshan died of illness in Nanjing at the age of 63! Although the fierce general is gone, the majestic wind will always exist, and General Wang Jinshan will always live in our hearts!